Pottery Mug Made by a German Prisoner of War in Alabama

A decorated pottery mug, about 4 1/2 inches tall and 3 inches in diameter at the top. The mug carries the hand painted decoration of “Dass dich der bock nicht stosst”, which roughly translates as “So the goat does not kick you”. The mug shows some signs of age but it is without chips or cracks. The bottom of the mug carries the maker’s initials and the incised notation “German P.O.W. Camp Opelika”, a prisoner of war camp in Alabama that was opened in 1942 to receive prisoners from the German Afrika Korps.